


Five Stars

by hamstercheese7



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Deep Conversations, Family, Fic Exchange, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25646476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hamstercheese7/pseuds/hamstercheese7
Summary: You can't start over if you don't try. Ace hasn't seen Luffy in years and thinks it's time to change that.SetSail 2020 fic exchange starring Ace.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace
Comments: 7
Kudos: 42
Collections: Set Sail One Piece Mid Year Exchange 2020





	Five Stars

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for lets-try-to-be-normal-otakus on Tumblr for the #setsail 2020 art exchange.

It was just beginning to snow, the wet crystals barely beginning to stick to the sidewalk as the Uber driver pulled over to the curb to let him out. His hands started to sweat as he stared at his destination across the street through the window. 

The cafe, called Sunny Side Up, was covered in bright twinkling festive lights, literally covered. If Ace was being honest, it was a bit too much. “Hey, um, you, uh, gonna get out?” came the voice of his driver. Ace flicked his eyes towards him. He was young, with short brown hair, and big, no, huge brown eyes. A tiny plush reindeer hung from his rear-view mirror. 

“Yeah, I just uh…” he trailed off, grabbing for the bag in the seat behind him. The camo pattern clashed horribly with the festive lights of the shop he was going to enter. The driver looked over at the shop, then back at him. “Are you going to the cafe?” he asked. Ace nodded. “It’s a pretty good place, they have good ice cream sundaes,” the kid was smiling at him. “Yeah, yeah, I know,” he gripped the bag handles tighter. The cafe looked much the same as the last time he’d seen it, though it definitely had a new sign and new paint. 

“I…” Ace groaned. “I don’t even know why I’m nervous, I just…” he trailed off, realizing that this kid was losing money being saddled with his shit that he didn’t ask for. “Sorry, I’ll just uh,” he gestured a thumb out the door. He reached for the door handle, noting with intense irritation that his hands were shaking. 

It was just a coffee shop, and it was just his brother, and it was just that he hadn’t seen him in years and the last time they had talked...well it hadn’t gone well. 

“The people who work at the cafe are really nice,” came the kid’s voice again. Ace turned back towards him. There was a small smile on his face. “A few of my friends work there,” he continued. “O-oh?” Ace asked. “Yeah, and the owner, his name is Sanji, wants to make it the best coffee shop in the city,” the kid’s brown eyes sparkled suddenly. 

Ace blinked at him. “Didn’t...wait wasn’t this owned by Zeff?” he asked, nerves forgotten for a moment. “Oh, yeah, but he wanted to retire, so he gave it to Sanji to run,” the kid waved his hand absently. Ace nodded, taking in that new bit of information. He was running off of second hand information. He wanted to surprise Luffy, figured it would go better than calling him. 

Was worried that he wouldn’t answer the phone. 

“So uh, you know other people who work there?” he prodded. The kid nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, my friends Usopp and Luffy! They work the front.” Aaaaaand the nerves were back. So Luffy did work there, Gramps had at least given him the right information on that. “Is um…” he sighed. Fuck it, if he was going to try to fix his relationship with his brother, he should be at least able to say his name! 

Ace took a breath, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear. It was strange to have longer hair again, but he hadn’t been on active duty for a months, and well, he wasn’t going back so he supposed he should get used to it. He hadn’t liked the buzz cut anyway. 

“Is...Luffy working there, right now?” he asked, annoyed at how small his voice sounded. The kid tilted his head at him, eyes going from innocent to shrewd in an instant. “Do you know Luffy?” his eyes shot to Ace’s duffel back, looking at the faded tags. “Yeah...or at least I used to,” he muttered, also glancing down at the bag.

Unbeknownst to his suddenly very interesting Uber driver, inside an inner pocket was a folder full of pictures he’d grabbed off the internet. Articles about his brother’s soccer matches and championship wins, going to nationals, and his recently being scouted for the National League. He’d saved them all. And at the back of the folder was the one thing he took with him when he fled for boot camp. A picture of the three of them. Luffy smiling, him looking like the stupid shithead he had been on the left, pout and all, and on the right...the reason he’d run off to the military at all. 

Sabo.

The kid looked at him, an eyebrow raised. Ugh he better elaborate on that or he’d sound like a real creep. “I… Luffy is my little brother,” he said softly, rubbing the back of his neck. The kid’s brown eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t know Luffy had a brother!” he exclaimed, his voice a little too loud for the inside of the car. 

Ace winced. So Luffy had never mentioned him? Maybe this had been a bad idea. Probably a good thing he was in the car still, he could ask to be dropped off somewhere else. “Well, that’s probably because we didn’t… I haven’t seen him in a while, and he wasn’t happy with me the last time I saw him,” he muttered. “Oh,” Brown eyes, fuck, should he ask him his name?, said. They were quiet for a moment.

“I...maybe this isn’t a good idea, could you...could you drop me off somewhere else?” Ace’s voice shook and he hated it. He had never been this scared in combat zones, why the fuck was this so hard?! Brown Eyes’ eyebrows drew downward, gazing at him. “Why do you want to see Luffy?” Ace blinked at him. He looked too young to have such piercing eyes. 

Because he missed him. Because he wanted to start over. Because the one thing he regretted more than anything was leaving like that, Sabo had been in the ground barely a week before he ran off to boot camp. God he was such an asshole!

“I...I just, I want to tell him I love him, is all,” Ace finally said after a long moment. He glanced out the window at the festive coffee shop. He’d hoped that he could explain that he’d been so angry, that he’d seen enlisting as his escape, that he’d hoped to take all that anger out on someone else, thought that it would make him feel less weak. But it hadn’t. Maybe in the beginning, but...by the end of it, as he lay recovering in a hospital bed far from home, he realized that he’d been wrong. 

And he just wanted to come home. 

Brown Eyes smiled gently at him. “Well if that’s what you want to say, then I’m sure Luffy would want to hear it.” Ace bit his bottom lip, the car went blurry for a moment and he looked away, blinking hastily. 

It took him a few moments, before he found his voice. “And what if he doesn’t?” he whispered. What if Luffy never wanted to see him again? What if he didn’t want him to be a part of his life again? It was obvious that he’d been able to move on, that he had friends, and a life without Ace in it. 

Brown Eyes gave him a look, somewhere between sympathetic and skeptical. “That doesn’t sound like Luffy...but, at least you’ll know you tried,” he gave him a soft smile. Ace swallowed. They sat in silence for a minute before Brown Eyes’ phone blipped. Someone else needed a ride. It was now or never. 

Ace took a breath, and looked at the cafe one more time. Sabo would roll in his grave if he didn’t at least try. He gripped his bag, and then opened the car door. It was snowing harder, a few solid flakes landing on his face. His tan skin and freckles looked out of place for winter. He turned back to look at Brown Eyes in the car. “Um, thanks, for listening, uh...I didn’t get your name,” Ace said as he swung his bag over his shoulder. “My name is Tony, and I hope it works out,” he smiled at Ace who smiled weakly back. 

He shut the car door. Brown Eyes, no, Tony, gave him a thumbs up and pulled away from the curb. Ace watched the tail lights shrink as he got farther and farther away before turning a corner and disappearing. He slowly turned to look at the cafe, the lights blinking brightly against the cold, took a breath and walked towards the door. 

**Author's Note:**

> I have never written a cafe AU before, and um... I actually don't drink coffee so I don't really go to coffee shops, but we die like men, so here we are. I don't actually know why this is what came out of my head when I finally sat down and wrote it out, I've been agonizing over it for like a month because I don't normally write fluffy or happier things (not that everything I write is dark, it's just different).
> 
> Let me know your thoughts.
> 
> As always, thank you for reading and you can find me on twitter @buggyisbest


End file.
